Wildlife photography can change the way we see our planet

Ashley Strickland
By Ashley Strickland, CNN
Published 12:07 PM EDT, Sat April 23, 2022
Zimbabwe-born photographer Emma Gatland captured the moment a rhino was being relocated from the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/17/world/rhino-airlift-upside-down-hnk-spc-intl/index.html" target="_blank">According to researchers</a>, being airlifted upside down is the safest way to move these critically endangered animals. Through her photography, Gatland hopes to draw attention to conservation issues on the African continent.
Zimbabwe-born photographer Emma Gatland captured the moment a rhino was being relocated from the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. According to researchers, being airlifted upside down is the safest way to move these critically endangered animals. Through her photography, Gatland hopes to draw attention to conservation issues on the African continent.
Emma Gatland
Gatland is a rising star among wildlife photographers in Southern Africa, where she says the vast majority of those in the business are male. She says she hopes her photography will inspire other female photographers to discover the world.
Gatland is a rising star among wildlife photographers in Southern Africa, where she says the vast majority of those in the business are male. She says she hopes her photography will inspire other female photographers to discover the world.
Emma Gatland
Light, color, composition and sharpness are all factors that Gatland considers when selecting her images. Most importantly, she considers the story each image will tell. This pack of African wild dogs in South Africa's Timbavati Wildlife Park gave Gatland an opportunity to shoot during lowlight and generate a silhouette of the animals under the orange sky. "I call this shot 'Leader of the Pack' ... you can just feel this dog kind of coordinating his soldiers into the hunt," she says.
Light, color, composition and sharpness are all factors that Gatland considers when selecting her images. Most importantly, she considers the story each image will tell. This pack of African wild dogs in South Africa's Timbavati Wildlife Park gave Gatland an opportunity to shoot during lowlight and generate a silhouette of the animals under the orange sky. "I call this shot 'Leader of the Pack' ... you can just feel this dog kind of coordinating his soldiers into the hunt," she says.
Emma Gatland
"We forget how close we are to nature and how close they are to us," Gatland adds. She hopes photographs like this one, featuring a mother and her child in nature, show the world the similarity between humans and wildlife.
"We forget how close we are to nature and how close they are to us," Gatland adds. She hopes photographs like this one, featuring a mother and her child in nature, show the world the similarity between humans and wildlife.
Emma Gatland
Gatland was sitting on a boat in Botswana's Okavango Delta on her way back to camp, when this hippo dented her boat to protect its territory. "I wasn't worried about what might have happened -- (instead, I) just took out the camera and started firing away and managed to get a shot," she says.
Gatland was sitting on a boat in Botswana's Okavango Delta on her way back to camp, when this hippo dented her boat to protect its territory. "I wasn't worried about what might have happened -- (instead, I) just took out the camera and started firing away and managed to get a shot," she says.
Emma Gatland
The 39-year-old photographer, who grew up in South Africa, says she doesn't often shoot in black and white -- but legendary photographers like Ansel Adams, known for his iconic black and white images of the American West, have made a huge impact on her life.
The 39-year-old photographer, who grew up in South Africa, says she doesn't often shoot in black and white -- but legendary photographers like Ansel Adams, known for his iconic black and white images of the American West, have made a huge impact on her life.
Emma Gatland
For Gatland, elephants often tell a family-oriented story of leading matriarchs and nurturing mothers, and they are among her favorite animals to photograph. She particularly loves their texture that create a tale of age, she says, and eyes that detail the lives they've lived.
For Gatland, elephants often tell a family-oriented story of leading matriarchs and nurturing mothers, and they are among her favorite animals to photograph. She particularly loves their texture that create a tale of age, she says, and eyes that detail the lives they've lived.
Emma Gatland
"Often as photographers, we pick up the camera and want to zoom in and get the eye lashes and the spots and the details," Gatland says, but zooming out of a photo allows her to capture a big cat such as this one in its natural surroundings -- creating more of a story in its habitat.
"Often as photographers, we pick up the camera and want to zoom in and get the eye lashes and the spots and the details," Gatland says, but zooming out of a photo allows her to capture a big cat such as this one in its natural surroundings -- creating more of a story in its habitat.
Emma Gatland
She hopes that her photos will draw attention to conservation efforts so that threatened animals -- such as the rhinoceros, often hunted for their horns -- will be more protected.
She hopes that her photos will draw attention to conservation efforts so that threatened animals -- such as the rhinoceros, often hunted for their horns -- will be more protected.
Emma Gatland
This photo of a white rhinoceros in Klaserie, northeastern South Africa, generated a lot of attention, Gatland says, because she "push(ed) the boundaries" with the lighting.
This photo of a white rhinoceros in Klaserie, northeastern South Africa, generated a lot of attention, Gatland says, because she "push(ed) the boundaries" with the lighting.
Emma Gatland
Photographer Emma Gatland wants to tell the story of conservation in Southern Africa through imagery

A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

CNN  — 

“This is planet Earth, you’re looking at planet Earth.”

So go the lyrics of Duran Duran’s first hit single. While not strictly an Earth Day song, it nevertheless inspires you to think of new beginnings.

The holiday in honor of our world cannot be separated from the climate crisis, as CNN’s Bill Weir noted. But it’s heartening to see planet-positive changes taking place.

Cities across the country are embracing clean solar energy – and you can see where your city ranks on a new list. And Hollywood may shift to focus more on the climate crisis, thanks to a thoughtful new playbook released this week that recognizes the impact of films such as “Don’t Look Up.”

If you’re looking to connect with nature this weekend, set out for a forest bath. The sensory experience of walking through a forest and listening to wind ruffling through the leaves is not only soothing – it’s good for you, according to science.

And forest bathing doesn’t even have to take place in a forest for you to reap the benefits.

Once upon a planet

Wildlife photographer Emma Gatland captured this moment between a baboon and her baby in the wild.
Wildlife photographer Emma Gatland captured this moment between a baboon and her baby in the wild.
Emma Gatland

Wildlife photographer Emma Gatland documents moments that connect us with some of the most precious life on our wild planet.

Born in Zimbabwe, Gatland grew up appreciating the “the rawness, the beauty, the vastness (and) the quietness” of the outdoors in neighboring South Africa.

Now, she captures images of animals such as threatened white rhinos. In one striking image, we see a rhino suspended in the air as it is airlifted from a game reserve to receive health care. The hefty animal is upside down to open its airways.

Gatland hopes her images can convey “what conservation is” and draw attention to the issues animals face.

Fantastic creatures

If you’re not a fan of millipedes, you may want to shake it off – but this insect named for Taylor Swift will never go out of style.

Nannaria swiftae, or the Swift twisted-claw millipede, was named by a self-proclaimed Swiftie who wanted to honor the singer. It’s a “pretty” millipede with a chestnut brown color and reddish-orange spots on its sides, so entomologist Derek Hennen hopes the singer takes it as a compliment.

Identifying new species is a bright spot as parts of the world head for an insect apocalypse due to the climate crisis. Insects are disappearing at alarming rates that could threaten human health and food security, but there are things we can do to help our pollinator friends.

Other worlds

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured video of Phobos during an eclipse.
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured video of Phobos during an eclipse.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI

We promise the above image is not of a potato – it just looks like one.

The Perseverance rover was in the right place at the right time to capture video of an eclipse as the tiny Martian moon Phobos passed between the red planet and the sun. Phobos is doomed to crash into Mars eventually as every orbit brings the spud-shaped lump closer and closer to the planet.

Meanwhile, astronomers were all about ice giants and ocean worlds this week.

New recommendations were made to NASA to prioritize and send missions to explore Uranus and Saturn’s moon Enceladus. And scientists studying the Greenland ice sheet discovered similar features on Jupiter’s moon Europa that may suggest it’s habitable for life.

A long time ago

It may be the oldest example of animation ever discovered.

Early humans carved art on rock tablets and placed them near flickering fires to provide the illusion of movement in the images, according to new research.

Archaeologists studied stone plaquettes engraved with animals such as horses, reindeer, bison and wolves by hunter-gatherers 15,000 years ago. The stones’ edges bore signs of heat damage, indicating they sat close to a fire.

To get to the heart of this mystery, researchers created their own prehistoric-style camp and watched the animals “pop to life” by the light of the dancing flames.

Wild kingdom

More than half the lion population of sub-Saharan Africa can be found in Tanzania.
More than half the lion population of sub-Saharan Africa can be found in Tanzania.
Josephat Mdegellah/Lion Landscapes

The Barabaig people of central Tanzania have dangerous neighbors: about 800 lions.

But as the populations of these vulnerable big cats dwindle, conservationists are partnering with the tribe to protect the fearsome predators rather than hunt them.

About 18 young men have taken up the task to become Lion Defenders, warriors who have excellent tracking skills and a desire to protect their community as well as the resident lion population.

Discoveries

Take these for a spin:

– Like to eat your Oreo cookies a certain way? Some snacky researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who enjoy splitting them open devised an Oreometer in an attempt to create the perfect twist.

– Astronomers have discovered a new kind of star explosion called a micronova that burns through “around 3.5 billion Great Pyramids of Giza” of material within a few hours.

– Pterosaurs, which ruled the skies during the age of dinosaurs, were covered in colorful feathers similar to those of modern birds – and they used their plumage to communicate with one another.

Like what you’ve read? Oh, but there’s more. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writer Ashley Strickland, who finds wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Related